Lunar Embrace
by Hawkflight7
Summary: It's not like the Ministry could foresee why this might not be a good idea. Most sixth years didn't make the cut for the marriage law at the time, just a few. One of those included Hermione Granger. And a certain Bartemius just had his name cleared under rather mysterious circumstances.
1. Chapter 1

**Lunar Embrace - First Chapter**

**Summary: It's not like the Ministry could foresee why this might not be a good idea. Most sixth years didn't make the cut for the marriage law at the time, just a few. One of those included Hermione Granger. And a certain Bartemius just had his name cleared under rather mysterious circumstances.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP. Yada yada**

**Welcome to my marriage law fic. Out of the hundreds of thousands roaming the web. Got this idea the other day when I was looking at this pairing and figured it needed a different spin.**

**Also, doing a bit of a poll here cause I don't know who to pair him with. So, if anyone wants to, just give a suggestion for who Blaise Zabini ends up with in a review.**

**One more thing, and this is ****important****, the version of this story you will see here on FF is Censored due to them actually starting to care about MA content. Therefore, whenever a chapter has to be censored for this I will tell you at the top here. Now the Uncensored version is going to be over on my AO3 account (there's a link on my profile or you could just type the title into the search and find it that way) with all its tags and warning labels (gosh i love tags now) so you can find what more to expect there because of them. I think that about covers anything, questions, etc you can post in a review or pm on it. Thank you for reading this annoying long author's note and I hope you enjoy the story! ^.^**

She poked at her food with the fork just waiting for the mail to come. For a letter that would seal her fate to someone else. She was nervous about it. Being the only one in her group of friends that qualified for the marriage law that was passed just yesterday.

The Daily Prophet had been all over it. How any witch or wizard at the age of seventeen to fourty had to be married within the next month. Apparently the Ministry thought it was appropriate to pass this stupid law while a war was on the rise. Of course, even with evidence that Voldemort was back they still did their best to ignore it anyways. There was a reason for the law though, extensive research had shown that the wizard population was steadily decreasing over the years. The last wizarding war didn't help the case. It passed, easily.

More astounding news had been in the Daily Prophet only days before, Barty Crouch Jr was cleared of his crimes. There was little explanation as to why in her eyes. He had been actively out to kill Harry during fourth year. That should have been enough evidence to keep him locked up in Azkaban for the rest of his life. According to the paper he wasn't guilty. Some sort of tests had been run, spells used, potions, anything to make sure he was innocent of the crimes.

It shouldn't have been possible but he was a free man now. Probably just waiting to strike out at Harry again under Voldemort's order.

"You need to eat Hermione." Ron said, mouth already stuffed with food even though they had only been at the table for a minute.

She glanced up at his words to look at him sitting across from her. "Don't talk when your mouth if full Ronald." She chastised, frowning as she spoke. With a sigh she diligently speared a grape onto her fork to bring to her mouth and chew just to assure her friends that she was fine.

Really she wasn't.

She hated this damn law. The actual name for it was one she found completely ridiculous. It very well stated why and what it was in such a revolting fashion. Hermione could picture the newspaper article that went over all the details yesterday perfectly in her mind.

**Higher Conception Matrimony Law**

_The Ministry of Magic has decreeded a law for marriage of those between the ages of seventeen and fourty as a way to help the birthrate come up, as well as lower the shockingly rising amount of squibs (particularily coming from the Pure-Blooded families), to help the current generation by matchmaking them through old magic means._

_The actual matchmaking is a complicated process, but from what has been leaked from the Ministry of Magic it is clearly thorough. It finds those that have compatible personalities, are physically attracted to eachother, and checks many other things to assure that the marriage is a good fit._

_There is currently no way to switch marriages if it does not work out though the Ministry of Magic has surely thought of this possibility (one would think anyways)._

_The contents of the law passed are below and it is __strongly__ suggested that everyone fitting the age requirement reads it (as to not get a nasty shock later)._

**To Uphold This law**

_We, The Ministry of Magic, assure you that this law is needed, and to go against it is to spend a year in Azkaban. If you try to run from the law your stay will be extended to two years. If you try to stop another persons marriage from happening it will be three years. _

_**1. Fertility Potions and Spells **__are __encouraged__, but not __required__._

_**2. Changing a Match **__will __not__ be possible. Due to the process used for matchmaking we can assure you that there are no errors in your match._

_**3. This Law is Only for Those Not Currently Married **__if you marry/get engaged before tomorrow your letter will not be sent. If you are already married this law does not apply to you __unless__ you get a divorce._

_**4. Trying to Stop Births**__ at any time during which this marriage law is upheld it is __punishable__ by a fifty galleon fine, and up to a year in Azakaban Prison. If you use muggle pills or anything else to aid in this act the fine is pushed up to eighty galleons._

_**5. If You Are Not Capable of Having Children **__this law does __not apply__ to you. If you find this out after the marriage you will be divorced as long as your partner is still capable and a new match will be set up for them, otherwise that decision lies in your hands._

**To Fulfill The Requirments For This Law,**

_You must,_

_**1. Concieve a Child**__ within the first three years. If you are having trouble it is advised that you go to the hospital and have some reproduction tests run._

_**2. Have a Bi-Monthly Check-Up **__at the Hospital to check if you or your partner is pregnate._

_**3. Find Time to Spend**__ with your husband/wife around your schedule. Specifically seventy two hours a week. Some special circumstances may exist for this. If you have problems with this requirment due to work or school please talk to a Supervisor within the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths so we are informed of your situation and can make the appropriate changes for your personal record._

_**4. On the Day of the Marriage**__ fulfill the act by consumating the marriage._

_**5. Attempt **__to get pregnate at least once a week._

_**6. Make Marriage Arrangements**__ and select a date within the week you get your letter._

_**7. Be Married **__within four months._

_Under this law it will be punishable by death or a sentance to Azkaban depending on severity if you harm your child in anyway._

It was outrageous. Even if the Ministry was also attempting to keep the act of this ridiculous law to a healthy state. That had been obvious to her when she saw number three of the requirements. To make sure the newly weds actually spent time around eachother and got time to know eachother if they didn't already. The addition at the end was another of these examples, trying to make sure the children grew up in a favorable enviroment. Atleast the Ministry was trying to do something right.

Hermione very much wished that she was engaged right now but she refused to force a friend into a marriage of convience. Talk of the law had started a month ago when it was being made and debated over. Now that it was passed she could just wish that this process of matchmaking worked in her favor. If it was as good as the papers and Ministry said she shouldn't have a problem with it.

Besides not liking that she had to get married at such a young age. Consumating the marriage was one of the requirements she was iffy on. It would seem much more favorable if the Ministry let the couples decide when to do the act. Even if they wanted children to up the population of the wizarding world it seemed to take it a bit far.

Well, that's what she first thought, until she saw number five anyways. They were actually making it a requirement to shag each week as a _minimum_. That last part may not have been said but it was heavily implied.

Just thinking about it made her stomach twist. That the Ministry would go so far for a stupid little law.

Her nose twitched in distate as she stuffed a cheese and herb bagel into her mouth that she had somehow managed to fill with a strawberry cream filling even in her half-focused state.

The sound of a bag being dragged from the table made her raise her eyes to look at her friends around her curiously. "Better eat that while getting to class or you'll be late." Ron said before sticking a roll into his own mouth.

Late? Her? No way. She got up taking a bite of the bagel as she swung her school bag over a shoulder and quickly followed Ron and Harry out of the Great Hall and to their first class, Potions.

It was hard to concentrate with the fact that her letter had still not yet arrived. She glanced towards Blaise Zabini, watching him until he noticed her looking and simply mouthed at him, 'Did you get your letter yet?' He was in the same boat as her, having turned seventeen early in the school year. When he just shook his head in response-and she was damned grateful he had actually responded to her inquiry rather than ignoring her-she sighed and looked back to the front of the room.

She felt like twidding her fingers the rest of the day as class after class went by. During lunch no owl had come for her though she noticed a Hufflepuff get a single letter.

Hermione ended up asking her Head of House, McGonagall what the delay was shortly after Transfiguration class.

"Oh," she said lightly while looking down at her student with clear sympathy. "There was a slight mix up with the owls earlier this morning. Then the Ministry was apparently being slightly behind with about twenty five percent of the letters. It's a lot of letters to send so this isn't too much of a surprise really. It'll still get here by today. I would recommend keeping your dorm room window open incase the owl is later in arriving."

Hermione said her quick thank you for the information before leaving to the next class that had her bouncing on her toes, eager to see this letter and get it over with. Good or bad, the anticipation was killing her. She would much rather know what her future held then have it shrouded in mystery.

When it still hadn't come by dinner she was getting antsy. Glancing around to see three owls come in and land to drop off a letter infront of atleast a dozen seven year students. She watched as their reactions ranged from a look of shock, a blush of embaressement, blood draining from the face as one paled, a rather happy squeal even came from a table. Hermione sighed once more before glancing back towards her friends hoping her own reaction was one of the more favorable ones.

She got up from the table early, rather wanting to wait in her room for the inevitable letter after summoning a warm container to put some spaghetti and meatballs in before making her way back to the Gryfindor Tower.

Sitting up in her room with the window open wide, letting in a cold draft of air as she ate the rest of her dinner. The sound of the door opening and closing didn't escape her notice and she glanced over to see Ginny standing there.

"Padma wanted to know if it was okay if her and the others came in." Ginny said slowly when she saw Hermione's frown. "Did it-"

"No. Not yet anyways." she paused before sighing. "They can come in." she said while knowing full well that they were likely to only go to sleep after her letter arrived and her spouse had been revealed. "You can stay too." Hermione added as Ginny opened the door to call down to Hermione's dormmates to come up. She might need her friend here if it ended up being someone she didn't care for. Or if it was someone she didn't know in the Wizarding World. She had heard a seventh year whispering about how she had been paired with a twenty something wizard while in the library, conveniently hidden by a stack of books.

Once the girls had all piled in Ginny came over and sat on her bed. "Do you have any guesses?"

"No." she replied glancing back over to the window as she licked some sauce off from her finger before closing the now empty container and setting it aside on top of the drawer. "Could be an-" she stopped mid-sentance when she heard a flap of wings soon followed by an owl coming through the window awkwardly due to its wingspan. Flying across the room it let go of the letter it held to land right in Hermione's lap before it flew off once again. "-yone." she finished while staring at the letter embossed with the Ministry symbol in shock.

Now that it was infront of her she hesitated. It was rather surprising, but, well... Her shock vanished in that instant and she quickly tore the letter open and raised it to her face to begin reading the customary greeting.

_Dear Hermione Jean Granger,_

_We the Ministry of Magic would like to inform you that as you are seventeen that you are eligible for the __Higher Conception Matrimony Law__. Due to you being in school you may need to speak with a Supervisor or other member of the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths due to the third requirement of the law. We suggest one of the following: Abtol, Cuthota, or Kanis. A Record has been prepeared for you at Saint Mugos Hospital, please set a date for a checkup within the week of your marriage. Your nurse will be Mrs. Vandis so please keep health inquires to her only. We suggest if you want to be married in a specific place to make reservations as early as possible. Please keep all this in mind and if you have not read the law familiarize yourself with it so the date falls within the required time._

_Congratulations on turning seventeen. We have used old magical means to come up with your match and we hope you approve of your future husband. Please remember that we check for all ways possible that the two of you are compatible to lower the chance of any problems coming up in your marriage. If you do have problems though please contact a Counselor to work it out as at this moment you may not divorce._

_We are happy to inform you that our system had paired you with none other than Bartemius Nyle Crouch Junior._

Quite honestly, her first thought was, that's Barty's middle name? It was only after that second that she felt panic invade her bones. She was sure her eyes had gone comically wide when she read the name at the end. Surely the system set up by the Ministry hadn't paired her up with this-this-maniac.

Him and her being _compatible_?

A laugh escaped her throat and she could feel the stares on her at the nervous sound that filled the silent air around her.

They had to be kidding. To be joking. Yes! This was all just a big joke. W-why would they be so cruel to joke about this though? No. No.

She didn't say the words outloud. Rather she shook her head repeatedly as if that would help clear the current name and put someone else on there instead. Someone that wasn't a bloody Death Eater. She knew he wasn't innocent. They wanted her to marry the man that almost killed Harry! A mistake it had to be a mistake. She just needed to-to-

Hermione lunged forward to grab a piece of parchment and quil from a desk and started hastily writing on it only to stop after that damn comma, before she even started with her outrageous cry of never. She rolled it up into a ball and threw it across the room now seeing the shocked faces everyone was currently giving her at this reaction. For a moment she was silent then simply stated,

"I'm going to the Ministry."

"What-your match can't be that bad." Ginny said quickly while trying to peer over her shoulder at the letter still in her left hand that she currently had a death grip on.

She folded the paper quickly, multiple times so the young Weasely wouldn't see it. "You don't want to know who." she assured her friend before she was up and off the bed, sticking her feet back into her shoes without bothering to put on socks first. Opening the door she descended down the stairs quickly.

Entering the common room she saw a few Gryfindors were still up. The Weaely twins were in a corner concocting a potion of some kind. If she bothered to think more about it she could be sure it had something to do with their joke shop. A first year was at a desk scribbling frantically away at a roll of parchment, obviously having waited till the last day to start on their homework. Harry and Ron were near the small fireplace talking about what sounded like Quidditch.

She walked past the five of them for the door. It swung open before she even got there and she halted in her tracks when she saw it was Professor McGonagal. The teacher glanced down at her as Hermione was standing in the way of entering the commons. "Where do you think you are going in such a hurry?"

"The Ministry." Hermione snapped with such distaste and anger that the whole room seemed to freeze for a moment. The sound of a quil on paper had stopped, her friends speaking quietly subsided. The only sound was the bubbling from the cauldron in the corner.

"It's late. It would not be very likely that someone will still be up working there at this hour. What could you possibly have-" McGonagal's eyes falling on the crumpled letter in her hand made her stop speaking for a second as an understanding went into her eyes. "I'm sure out of all the students here you know what the law says Miss Granger. There are no changes to whatever match you got."

"They made a mistake." Hermione said swiftly. "I need to clear this up as quickly as possible."

McGonagal looked as if she was going to reprimand her but then sighed. "If it's really a mistake then you can use the fireplace in my quarters to get there." Turning the woman started toward a door in the wall where the girl dormitories would lie beyond upstairs.

"Who did you get Hermione?"

There was a slight twitch in her eye when Ron spoke. "I _don't_ have the time right now Ronald." She walked after the Professor and into the quarters not sparing so much of a glance around the room. Once her eyes found the fireplace she was walking even faster towards it, anger coiling in the pit of her stomach at the ridiculousness of this situation.

"Try not to be to long Hermione." McGonagal said just as she grabbed a handful of floo powder at the side of the mantle before stepping inside.

Turning around she simply shouted, "Ministry of Magic!" not bothering to answer the question as she was enveloped in green flames.


	2. Chapter 2

**Lunar Embrace - Second Chapter**

**Thanks for all the faves, follows, and reviews! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy the insanity! Bonus if you can figure out the refrences. With cookies I guess... or brownies.**

For a few seconds all she could see was wisps of green and felt the sensation of spinning around and around. The sparks died down as she arrived at the Ministry the flames disapearing around her to reveal the long hall that led to the buildings.

Hermione barely looked around as she stepped out, fingers still clutching the crumpled letter. It was quite at this time of day, or rather night. Few people were still walking around instead of the large crowd she had heard some classmates talk about before when they had visited. Commenting that to be there was completely overwhelming the first time.

She didn't feel any of that right now though. Just the anger pulsing deep in her veins. She had started a mantra in her head as she walked past the tall stone fountain that she didn't care to look at, much less at the details. _It's a mistake. It's a mistake! It's a bloody mistake!_

When she entered the building she walked immedietly for the desk infront of her where a wizard lounged reading the latest copy of the Daily Prophet, or doing crosswords if the quil in his hand was any clue. "Excuse me." She said trying to keep the fire out of her voice and sound more buisness-like. "I need to see someone in the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths right away."

The man looked up, slightly startled. "I'll have to check if anyone is in right now and available." he started turning toward a stack of parchment on a tilted slab to his right before glancing toward her. "Who did the Ministry suggest you talk with?"

Hermione snapped open her letter again and glanced down at it before looking back up. "An Abtol, Cuthota, or Kanis." she said quickly before just folding the parchment once before resuming her death grip on it.

A few seconds passed before the man at the desk turned back to her. "Abtol and Cuthota are in, but Abtol is currently busy and Cuthota is suppose to be getting off in just a few minutes."

That was just her damn luck. "Contact Cuthota then and tell him I'm coming to his office and give me the directions." she said not having any intention of leaving until she had talked to someone. Besides, he had just said that person wasn't busy, just about to leave. Which meant they had the time and could deal with her even if it was overtime.

"I can't. He's getting off soon-"

"So he'll stay a little late. I need to talk to someone right _now_."

The man sighed. "As I just said. I can not make him stay here overtime. He already came in early because of another person I'm not going to preassure him into staying later than needed."

"This is needed!" Hermione snapped so fiercly she thought the guy jumped slightly when she spoke.

Flattening a part of his robe that got bunched up he frowned at her. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave Miss."

"I'm not leaving until I've talked to someone about this!" she waved the folded letter in his face that had a inked copy of the Ministry insignia on the back of it.

"That law doesn't let you switch-"

"I know about the damn law! That's why I need to speak with someone to get this cleared up!"

He flinched as her screaming started again. "I would appreciate it if you didn't yell. Please leave and come back tomorrow early in the morning and if there's a legitamate problem we can get it cleared th-"

"Is there a problem here?"

Her blood ran ice cold at the voice. All proud and stuck up-like. She could remember it as distinctly as the first time she heard it back in her second year. It could only belong to one person. Lucius Malfoy. She was about to whirl on him when the front desk representitive spoke up, "This Miss refuses to leave without seeing Supervisor Cuthota who is suppose to be getting off right about now."

"If you were to send a message that he has one last visitor I could take her to his office."

The man looked about ready to protest but then sighed in indignation. "I'll send a message right away. I shouldn't have to tell you to get there quickly incase it doesn't arrive before yourselves." turning back to his crossword Hermione got the distinct feeling like he had just let Malfoy take her off his hands rather than deal with him herself.

Look at the bright side, you're getting to go see this Cuthota about this horrendous match. Then on the bad side, you're going to be escorted there by none other than Lucius Malfoy.

Something cold and metal brushed her shoulder and she turned quickly to look at Malfoy. "Follow me." he said before removing the top his cane from her shoulder and turning to go deeper into the building. Begrudgingly she followed after him, glaring at his back the whole way, twisting through the hallways till coming to a stop at a door. "Here's your stop mudblood."

Hermione's eye twitched at the insult. "I can see where your son gets his manners." she retorted in retaliation then opened the door to see an office and walked inside just to get away from the small-minded pure-blood slamming the door behind her. The sound jarred the person searching among a rack of files in the office for just a moment, and then he was going back to whatever it was he was doing.

"Mr Cuthota?" she asked while drawing out a seat to sit in.

"Yes." The man replied still sifting through before he found what he was looking for a second later with a little "aha." sound. Closing the file drawer he turned to her and walked over to sit in the seat across from hers laying what he had found out on the table. "You must be Hermione Granger soon to be Crouch I believe it was. I just got a notice that you would be coming in. These are the papers and a magical copy of the record at the hospital though it won't have anything in it right now."

She was stunned for a moment. Crouch. _Hermione Crouch?_ Merlin she wished people would never associate her with that person. Either person. His father was a bit of an idiot and had broken the law himself. The son was just a complete bloody psychopath. For her to be given that last name, to be reffered to as such already... She very much did not like it. "Right." she said lifting her letter up to set on the table. "I needed to talk to you about that." She paused for a moment but when he just looked at her patiently she continued, "I think there's been a mistake." She opened the letter to simply point at the name Bartemius. "We're definetly not compatible. I don't know if you read the Daily Prophet or not but he tried to kill Harry, my friend and almost succeeded. There's no way I'm marrying him. Much less procreating." A shiver ran through her at the idea and she was sure her face twisted into an expression of absolute disgust.

"When the result came from the matchmaking ritual it was figured that might be a problem with you-"

"Figured!" she screamed before quickly reining herself in at his surprised expression at the sudden uncivil reaction. "So what, you already have a solution? Like a back-up to-be-husband." she didn't bother to hide what outcome she wanted.

"Can't do that." Those words tempted her to raise her hands and tear her hair out. Who the hell added that to the law! It was completely ridiculous! "Our 'solution' as you call it is very simple. You'll be getting a marriage counselor to help with any bumps in the relationship."

She felt her jaw drop and quickly closed it. "What?"

"Well it hasn't been decided who in this Department will have the job yet as it's still being looked over but whoever it is will help with anything that comes up. Of course it'll be up to you to schedule any meetings and go to them so whatever it is can be worked out." There was a slight pause in words as he reached for the file and drew a paper out to put on the table. She didn't have to look down at it to know what it was. "If you haven't read the law already you should. There's no mistake with the match. Not with anyones. You can't change it. Since you're here now why don't we get a date for the marriage set up so it's already on file?" He set his hands on the desk in a rather diplomatic way.

Hermione seethed for a few seconds, still flowing with anger then blinked. "The last possible day." Atleast then she could put it off for four months while thinking of a way out of this. Cuthota looked slightly surprised at that. "Maybe I'll... get used to the idea by then." she was lying, of course. If she was certain of anything it was this: she would never get used to the idea of being married to Bartemius.

"That could be possible." he said slowly. "But why don't we wait another minute until your husband gets here since it's a decision the two of you should make together? As a way to start out on the right foot and have atleast some contact with eachother."

She could feel her jaw drop once again. "That psyc-he's on his way _here_? _Now_?" she tried to hide the fact of calling her future husband a psycho but Cuthota seemed to have caught that anyway.

He sighed in such a dramatic way she had to wonder if it was rehearsed. "He's not a pyscho. The tests were conclusive that he wasn't guilty for any of those crimes. It was simply unfortunate that he was locked up in Azkaban for the last few years, again."

"He helped in the torture of the Longbottoms. Or did you forget?" Hermione scowled and shot up from her chair glancing toward the door, checking that no one had entered the room silently while she was speaking. Seeing no one she turned back to Cuthota with a frown. "I'm not marrying him." After a moments pause she grabbed the paper he had sat down infront of her, slamming it back down onto the table to face him and pointing at the Uphold clause number five a second later, "'If you are not capable of having children this law does not apply to you.' That man whether guilty or somehow innocent in this twisted world of the Ministry has still dabbled in the dark arts. There is no bloody way he is still able to have children after messing with that magic."

"Bartemius was checked upon being cleared of his crimes and leaving Azkaban as he fell within the age group for the law. It would have been irresponsible of us to not have him tested and still included in the ritual."

She bit at her lip. How was it that she was being blocked at every possible way to get out of this marriage? Hermione blinked then grinned down at him, laying her hands on the desk. "I haven't been checked. How do you know if _I_ can concieve or not?"

This was the first time she saw Cuthota look, what was the correct word? Surprised? His face didn't really change enough for her to tell accurately. "Well, it's best to run the test earlier than later." His face had dropped back into buisness style as he picked up another paper from the files. "What day would you like to go in and have that checked? Can't be the last, since that's when you want the wedding. I would suggest a week before atleast."

She didn't respond at first. Her mind wandering back to what she had heard in school, back at the library, while hidden behind a stack of books. "How old is Barty?"

"Pardon?" He looked rather confused at the change in subject.

"A school mate said that their uh, husband was in his twenties. She was a seventh year." Hermione explained.

"Oh, yes. Some couples do have age gaps. Bartemius is thirty four." Her eyes widened. "There are plenty of couples that were situated with similar age gaps, smaller, some even larger. It's not unusual." Damn. He must have known what she was going to ask since he answered the question without her having to. "Now, as I was saying before about that conception check up. You said you wanted the wedding on the last day possible, right?" Hermione just nodded slowly, still in shock. She grabbed for the edge of the chair and sat herself slowly back down, mind spinning. She was getting married to a person seventeen years her senior? Give or take a few months that is. She could really only think of one thing with that information running through her mind.

Her parents were going to flip out.

"Miss Granger?"

She blinked and shook her head quickly, refocusing on Cuthota. "Y-yes? I mean, what?"

"Check up. At Saint Mugos Hospital. What day did you want it?"

Right. That. When did she want to be checked if she could bear children or not? "Oh. Umm-"

"What's this about a check up at the hospital?"

"Conception thing. Contra-one. Hopefully." She blinked a moment later after the words left her mouth. That hadn't been Cuthota speaking. "Who?" she questioned while turning in her chair to glance up at the person who had evidently just come through the door. Hermione had to tilt her head back a bit to see the face of the man infront of her but she immediately recognized it from the Daily Prophet. "Bloody hell!" she shouted, scrambling back in the chair-trying to anyways. It didn't really work, being in a chair and all. It clattered to the floor, with her in it. She yelped in surprise as she fell-but didn't hit the floor.

There were fingers wrapped around her upper arm. Glancing back up rather than at the ground she straightened herself to a standing position before tugging her arm from Barty's grip. "Don't touch me." she snapped at him, glaring outright.

"Well it would seem we are off to a rocky start."

She swung her head around so fast it made a _whoosh_ sound. "You think this is _funny_?"

"On the contrary I'm rather tired and would like to get to my bed sometime tonight. So if you two could just sit down, calmly, and we can talk the rest of your plans out." Hermione scowled, glaring at the Supervisor as she wordlessly accioed the chair up to its original spot and sat back down. She did her best to ignore the chair scraping to her right signaling that her 'husband to-be' had sat down. "Okay then. Thank you for joining us Bartemius." Cuthota gave a nod in his direction causing Hermione's eye to twitch. She would much rather he bugger off. "So, about that day."

"Tomorrow." Barty said before she could even speak.

She turned to look at him, glaring openly. "What?"

He glanced to her in turn. "The earlier we figure out if you can concieve the better right? Or else we're just wasting Ministry time." She frowned at those words, a nagging in the back of her mind that there was an underlying in them. "If it's fine with you that is."

With a huff she turned away from him. "Whatever."

"So that's set then?" Cuthota asked, exchanging a glance with each of them. Hermione nodded in the affirmative and watched silently as he wrote on the piece of paper in front of him, filling out seperate parts of the sheet before turning it towards her. She grabbed the quil from him before he even spoke and signed her name down before giving it back to him.

"We're done here then. Right?" Hermione asked, glaring at each of the two before settling back on Cuthota as she would rather not look at Barty. She hoped all she had to do now was get back into the Gryfindor Tower, find a spell of some sort to make her appear anti-baby, go to the check up and then be done with this stupidity.

"Not yet. If your check up turns out to be negative it won't matter, but if positive then you'll still need a day for the marriage-"

"We already talked about this." Hermione snapped. "I told you, 'the last possible day', or did you miss that somehow?"

Cuthota's expression held the barest skeleton of a frown. "Yes. We-" he pointed a finger between him and her, "talked. As I told you before though, I need to speak with both of you about the marriage so you can both agree on the selected date. Being able to make a decision together is a part of marriage, and besides that, it would be unfair if a date was selected without the others knowledge of when. Part of my job here is making sure you both agree to it so we here at the Ministry have it on record. There's going to be a lot of marriages within the next four months and we need to keep track of them all and make sure everyone shows up. Now a person can't show up if they don't know what the day is, so this is why we're doing this." A slight pause as he took a breath. "If you two would like a moment to discuss now is the time. Unless you want to come in another time but it'll probably be really busy tomorrow and most of the following week. I don't know if I would have time to see you two again."

Hermione glanced to Barty. "I stand by my decision."

A smile creeped its way across his rugged features. "Now that's not much of a discussion if you've already made the decision ahead of time, Hermione."

"Don't call me that." she snapped.

"Then what should I call you?" he inquired looking rather serious about the matter.

"Nothing. We're not aquantinces. Not friends. Most definitely not husband and wife. So, you will call me nothing."

"Nothing." he repeated with a smile that irked her. "Nice name."

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing as in as far as you are concerned we never met in the first place."

"So we're starting out on a clean slate?"

"Definitely not."

"Miss Granger it is then." Her nose twitched at the reminder of when he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher back in her fourth year. Barty had turned to look back at Cuthota though. "About that, 'last possible day' date," She scowled openly at him. Weren't they suppose to be talking about it? "that's not going to work for me."

Hermione snapped out from her glaring contest with the side of his head. "Why not? What could possibly be wrong with it? Does it conflict with your Death Eater schedule?" That had to be it.

"No." he said, having turned to face her again as he spoke. "If you read the Daily Prophet, Miss Granger, you would know that I've been cleared of any and all crimes and therefore am not a Death Eater. So there's no way it could conflict with a nonexistent schedule of mine. By putting my marriage to the last possible day it would make it seem as if I was trying to get out of this and even though my name is cleared a lot of people still think I'm a Death Eater, like you for instance-"

"I wonder why." Hermione hissed under her breath.

"-and even people in the Ministry itself. Therefore it would be better for me to get married sooner. Say, in two months?"

"Three."

"Days?"

"Months." she snapped irritably.

"You don't like days?"

"I don't like you."

"And why is that?"

"You tried to kill Harry!"

"Again you're missing the-"

"I don't care what the Daily Prophet says. It's a load of codswallop! And if you think saying I was 'under the influence' is going to get you anywhere with me then that bloody ritual was most definitely not on your side."

"Two."

"What?"

"One."

"I don't compromise with Death Eaters."

"Not."

"I don't bloody care."

"So one would be fine."

"No it would not!"

"You just said you didn't bloody care."

"Not for that! I stick by three. Months!"

"Two and a half."

"Is this a game to you?'

"Yes. A quarter."

"No."

"Half a quarter."

"I refuse your proposition of two weeks."

"One."

"One what?"

"Anything."

"Year."

"That's cheating Hermione Jean Granger."

"How the hell do you know my full name?"

"Invintation."

"I don't recall this being a party."

"What about a game?"

"This isn't a game. This is my life. Now quit it."

"This is my life too."

"Something tells me it doesn't matter as much to you."

"What would that be?"

"My sixth sense."

"Six days?"

"No! Three. I mean-"

"Days."

"Stop it!"

"Thirty."

"Shut up!"

"Twenty nine."

"Bugger off!"

"Eighteen."

"Seventeen!'

"Six!"

"Fiv-Hey!"

"Tetrad."

"What does Tetris have to do with this?'

"Ternion."

"This isn't The Grid."

"It's not?"

"No!"

"What if I dual?"

"You're giving me a bloody headache!"

"I'm not the one screaming at the tops of my lungs."

"Well this must be just dandy for you then!"

"It is. Want a solitary pill?"

"What color is it?"

"Blue."

"Whatever."

"Okay."

"Good."

"So we got that all sorted out now?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to go back on your word?"

"No-what?"

"You heard her Cuthota."

"Finally, both of you sign here." The Supervisor said sounding tired.

"What?" Hermione repeated as she turned to the desk that Barty was now facing where he was signing his name on a piece of parchment. "We didn't come to an agreement." She said as the Ministry Supervisor drew the paper toward her once Barty was done, pointing at the line she was to sign with a quil. Frowning she took the quil and looked down at the paper. Her eyes scanned over the formal parts to where the date had appeared. For a moment she was rendered speechless. "T-tomorrow?"

"Please sign the paper so we can get this over with, and remember, it's only if your fertility test is conclusive." Oh yes, let's wish like crazy that I'm not capable of having children. Why did she ever agree to have that test done tomorrow? She could feel the quil being pressed into her hand that was moved to hover over the line. "Miss Granger?"

She bit at her lip for a moment before glancing up at Cuthota with a smile. "I won't do it. Throw me in Azkaban." At his raised brow she continued, "That's part of your law isn't it? I'm going against your law. So just thrown me in Azkaban already."

The only response she got was him shaking his head at her. "That won't be necessary." She blinked. So she didn't have to go to Azkaban? They would let her just walk out the door? "You are to sign the paper, so please just sign it."

Her smile slowly slipped from her face. The air in the room suddenly felt cold around her. As if it had gone from fall to the middle of winter in the blink of an eye. An alarm was starting up in the back of her mind, a distant ring. "What do you mean sign it? I don't have to. It's not required. It says right there," she jabbed at the parchment containing the written law. "That if I go against the law that I would be thrown in Azkaban for a year. If I were to try and run I would get two years, and if someone were to try and stop-this-_oh_." It didn't apply to her. She could see that in Cuthota's eyes now. Hermione was also suddenly very aware that she was alone in the Ministry with these two people. "I have a wand." she said slowly, while reaching for it.

Something poked her in the side of her neck causing her eyes to widen further and dart over to glance at Barty who held the wand to her throat. "We all have wands Miss Granger. That includes Lucius outside the door. Now, if you would." Cuthota said while tilting his open palm at the paper infront of her.

Her eyes darted from Barty to Cuthota, towards the door, back to the Supervisor, then down at the parchment infront of her. She was surrounded then. Opening her mouth she spoke slowly, "I won't-" the wand poked further against her throat and she hesitated, "sign it." There was a sort of sharp pain along her neck, quick and only there for a second. Even so she could feel a trickle of blood running from the tip of where the wand lay against her skin, traveling down to the crevice of her collar bone. "You can't force me." Her heart started to pound harder as she stared at the paper that was suppose to seal her fate.

A breath coasted along her face as she could sense Barty leaning over, closer until his lips brushed against her ear when he spoke, "I can't?" There was a slight pause. "Tell me, Hermione. Who knows that you're here?" She just mouthed the word, _eleven_ suddenly not able to get her mouth to work properly. "Who else saw the letter besides you?" _No one._ "Then who, pray tell, knows why you are here?" _No._ "Is your hand broken?" She didn't answer. "I asked you a question." _Not yet._ "Would you like to know what it feels like to have your hand broken?"

"Not particularly."

Her head snapped to the side as the harsh sound filled the air following the sting on her cheek. "This isn't the time to be a smart ass, Hermione."

She blinked slowly, raising a hand to touch her cheek, momentarily replicating the curve at which she had been hit. "Don't." Her voice sounded small even to her own ears.

Her hand was tugged back down from her face as fingers wrapped around her wrist to slam it against the arm of the chair. Her wrist stung in response. It moved away a moment later and she felt those same fingers holding her chin, tugging it to the side so she had to look into his dark brown eyes. "Don't what?"

"Don't call me that."

There was a sigh and he let go of her chin. Her head dropped to look down at the parchment again, to see her hand still poised over the line. It was as if his hand had been holding her head up. "Let's try this again. Shall we?" She bit at her lip when she felt the blood start to overflow from the shallow cusp of her neck and start down again. The wand pressed harder against her throat and she flinched when it hit the part where the spell had made the cut. "Put your name on the line. It's very simple." She didn't move. "Do I need remind you that no one is coming here? If someone had even reached the reception area we would have gotten a letter."

Hermione just closed her eyes. "You won't kill me."

"Whoever said anything about killing?" The wand tip was dragged across her skin, that short sharp pain returned. It curved against her skin, forming a crescent, blood flowing after it. For a long moment afterwards it was silent. She could just feel the blood running over her skin, sense his prescence next to her, hear his soft controlled breathing at her ear. Fingers curled back over her hand, the one that held the quil. It started the downward stroke and her hand followed the familiar movements afterward. No more guidance needed. "There you go." A hand stroked a strand of hair from her face.

Opening her eyes slowly she looked down at the page, the quil falling from her hands as she read it.

_Hermione Granger and Bartemius Crouch, to be married on the twenty fifth of September, nineteen ninety six._

"Stupefy." A red light bloomed along the right side of her face

Her vision went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Lunar Embrace - Third Chapter**

**Thanks to all the lovely readers! And for all the follows, faves, and reviews! **

There was a pecking coming from the window. The owl fluttering outside of it insistent on being let in. Thankfully the wizard it was choosing to wake up was a light sleeper. Albus Dumbledore got up from the bed and walked over to unlatch the window and let the bird of prey in to land on the writing desk, promptly dropping a letter before taking back off through the window. Apparently it wasn't going to wait around for a reply so it must be a notice of some sort.

Closing the window again he walked over and sat down in the chair before looking down to see the usual Ministry seal on the letter. He opened it gingerly, picking up his glasses afterward so they could perch on his nose as he looked down to read what he guessed to be important if the Ministry had sent an owl to wake him up in the morning before even the students would be up.

_Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore,_

_We would like to inform you that one of your students, Hermione Granger, will not be able to arrive to classes today. As you are probably aware the Higher Conception Matrimony Law was passed just yesterday and she came in just last night to discuss plans with us. As it was late we had to push most of it to the next day and we hope to have everything done as soon as possible so she can return to classes._

_We apologize for any inconvience this may cause._

_Sincerely, Supervisor Cuthota of the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths_

**/ / /**

_"Hermione."_

She jumped at the word. At her name. Hadn't she told him to not call her that? Multiple times even. She went to part her lips and found she couldn't. Her fingers twitched, flying up to check they were still there. Finding that he hadn't used her own wand to mutilate her lips as well after doing so to her neck she let out a sigh of relief.

There was a nudge at her shoulder.

Whirling she only saw darkness and backed up slowly, staring around at the suddenly dark room. There was a soft laugh and she took another step back feeling an unpleasant shiver run down her spine. Where was he?

A light preassure at the back of her neck was her answer. She made a small sound in her throat feeling the blood running down, directly over her spine.

Her shoulder was shaken harder and she gasped aloud. Surprised to hear her own voice, more-or-less anyways, she opened her eyes to be met by blindingly bright light. "Uh." she brought a hand up to block the light, blinking as she adjusted to it.

"Hermione Granger?"

She glanced towards where the feminine voice came from, lowering her hand to see a woman standing infront of her. Strawberry locks curled around a pale face with a pair of green eyes looking down at her, a white witch's hat sat on the top of her head. "Umm, yes?" She said slowly her head still throbbing as if she had run into a wall.

"You looked like you were having a nightmare. I'm Mrs. Vandis, the nurse the Ministry assigned to you. I got a letter to come in early to run your test as you wanted it done today." Today? Wait. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was today. When did that happen? "Don't worry it won't take too long, just a few spells. You came in with a rather nasty looking injury but I stopped the bleeding, the scar is still there though. I couldn't get it to go away, seemed like dark magic but if I'm correct in thinking that it was the Unguis Punctura spell then it should fade away by itself. It just can't be poofed away with magic unfortunately. Not very deadly, just annoying in that aspect."

Hermione blinked up at her as she slowly sat up and swung her legs off the hospital bed. "Scar?" She raised her hand up to touch at the right side of her neck and found a bandage pressed to it.

"Yes. I would advise against touching it-" she moved her hand away quickly, "so that it can heal." Mrs Vandis finished in a slower tone of voice. "Are you okay?"

Hermione glanced around the room. It was stark white, both magical and muggle healing books stacked in a shelf running along the outer wall. "Yes. I think so." She bit at her lip. "This is the Saint Mugos Hospital, right?" she asked slowly recalling that the wand that had made whatever sort of scar on her neck had been her own. Quickly she checked her robes feeling a surge of panic run through her. It wasn't there. Last she remembered it had been in Barty's hands. He still had it then.

"Okay. So just follow me to the room and I'll run the tests and you can go and get ready for that wedding I heard you were having today."

Her blood froze over. Wedding. Today. Tomorrow was today. Right. Which... no. Wait a second Hermione. Just calm down, she told herself. Think this through. Fighting to keep her voice under control she turned to look at the nurse, Mrs. Vandis. "How did I get here?" she asked, it being the most prominent question in her mind.

The woman was currently writing something on a clipboard, manually. She must be muggleborn. "Oh, your husband or rather, husband-to-be, Barty came by and dropped you off along with a copy of the paper that held the day you had wanted to do the test on for our personal records." Okay, maybe she wasn't muggleborn. Hermione shifted on the bed, slipping off it to touch the floor without a sound. Was this woman a Death Eater as well? Like the Supervisor back at the Ministry? What had been his name? Something Cuthota. She didn't think he had actually every properly introduced himself. "Ready?' The woman finally looked up and over at her.

She wasn't entirely sure. It was such a simple question but... she could always wish she figured, that she was secretly barren or something of the sort. Taking in a breath she nodded, "Yes. I'm ready." Get the test done, then get the bloody hell out of here. "Is..." she started slowly, unsure at first, but she had to know. "Is anyone else here?"

Mrs. Vandis shook her head. "No, no one else is scheduled to be in for another half hour. I came in early since your test and marriage were set on the same day and I figured you would have things to do." The nurse smiled then, "It's an important day for you. I wouldn't want to keep you from it any longer than absolutely necessary. You only get married once, especially with this new law. It should be special."

Hermione had to force her lips to curl up into and a smile and give a little nod just before Mrs. Vandis turned back away and started walking down the hall. Her face crumpled the moment the nurse had turned away. The woman had sounded genuine and with the way she suddenly got all happy at the mention of marriage Hermione was positive that the woman herself wasn't a Death Eater. Not like Cuthota had been. She was also positive though that they weren't actually alone. After what happened at the Ministry she was sure she was under surveilance even right now. That Barty had dropped her off convinced her of this even further.

With a sigh she followed after the nurse into the hallway to another room where the tests were to be run. Her mind was still spinning from what Mrs. Vandis had said. Who she kept thinking was a muggleborn, though she was unsure why Death Eaters would let a muggleborn be her nurse when they had obviously manipulated her situation so that Cuthota would be the Supervisor she went too.

_Special. _That word kept floating through her mind.

Yes, her marriage should be special. It should be a day she looked forward too rather than dread. But this wasn't what she wanted. Infact at this point she was sure her ritual test had been messed with. She could distinctly remember her mother talk about her own wedding when she asked as a child. Words like magical had been used to describe the event to her seven year old mind. The fact that she wouldn't be getting that made her blood boil.

Not being able to choose her own husband. A ritual choosing for her. A ritual that had been tampered with by Death Eaters for some unknown reason. Those little facts twisted hard into her gut, her eyes felt as if they were burning up. Why out of everyone else was she picked for this? What did they even want? She knew though that she wouldn't be getting the answers anytime soon.

"Please sit down and lay back." Mrs. Vandis said, waving an arm at a table in the center of the room covered by the usual thin white cloth. Hermione hopped up onto the surface, scooting back until her feet were on the table then laying back to look up at the ceiling. Luckily there was no bright light right above her.

"So, how does this work?" She asked not even knowing what sort of spells or testing in general was used to check one's fertility.

"Well," There was a sound of a drawer being opened, "first I have to take a blood sample for your record of coming here, and making sure it's you." At Hermione's incredolous look the woman explained, "It's part of the law that the Ministry passed. The Prophet only detailed out what the public had to know about it, not about how everything was to be checked. Though I'm sure if you asked they would give you the full detailed document. The good news is we only have to take blood on your first arrival and you get a cookie out of the deal."

"Oh." That made sense. In case someone used the Polyjuice Potion as it only changed outward appearances and not the DNA of the person who drinks it.

"Okay, give me your arm." She watched as the woman turned her arm over, dabbing at it with a cotton ball leaving behind some wet substance on her skin. The needle was inserted shortly after and the syringe was filled with blood rather quickly as it was small. She doubted more than a few centimeters were being held within. Mrs. Vandis left her side for a moment with it, coming back shortly after. "Seeing as you are Hermione Granger we can begin. I'll need to ask you some questions first."

"Okay." Hermione said and waited for the first question to be asked.

"Do you have any allergies to medical prescriptions?"

"No."

"Have your ever had any chronic illnesses? Any medical surgery?"

"Not really. I had the flu consecutively for two years when I was five but otherwise I have a high metabolism and don't get sick very often. And, no."

There was the sounds of a pen scribbling across paper. "You used prescription medication for that?"

"Yes. Switched to healing spells after I turned eleven. Only ever had to use them three times."

"Alright. Ever been exposed to any harmful chemicals or toxins?"

"Not that I know of."

"Been involved in any sexual activities?"

Heat raised to her cheeks at the question even though she knew it was for a purely medical reason. "No." she murmured.

There were a few seconds where she could just hear the pen clearly scratching out some other questions from the sheet in the woman's hand. "Has your menstrual cycle been consecutive over the last year?"

"Yes."

"Seen any large blood clots?"

"No."

There was a click of the pen and then footsteps moving away again. Hermione turned her head to try and see what the woman was doing but couldn't as her back blocked what she was doing though she did hear papers being rustled around. "I just need to do a few spells now." Seeing the nurse turn around with wand in hand Hermione's eyes followed her movements. The older witch stopped next to her, pulling up the bottom of her shirt until the material was bunched up beneath her breasts then laid her wand on top of her skin. No words were spoken but a glow started at the tip of the wand and Mrs. Vandis moved it slowly back and forth. When Hermione glanced toward the woman's face she noticed her eyes were glowing the same color and she looked out of it, as if she was seeing something else infront of her.

The wand movements had continued for a minute and then it glowed a different color and was swept across her hips. Hermione was just thankful that her clothes hadn't been rearranged for this spell like the last one. "Hmmm,"

Upon hearing the woman suddenly make a sound she couldn't resist asking, "What?" With a slight flutter of panic in her stomach. She wasn't quite sure where it had come from though. She wanted this test to be negative. To get her out of this situation. To make these Death Eaters leave her alone. So that she didn't have to marry one.

"Nothing. Just some bruises. Have you been in any fights recently?"

Her heart thundered in her chest as she remembered what had happened in fifth year. "Yes. Last semester I got hit by some unidentified curse. That's probably where that came from." she paused for a second though. "What do you mean it's bruised?" she hadn't seen any marks on her skin for the last few months.

"The bone itself." There was a pause. "One moment. This may burn." She hardly had anytime to prepare when her right hip flared with heat as if on fire. Her eyes widened for a second when it increased but it was soon cooling back down. She sighed softly when a pulse of cold air seemed to flow through her bone there. "That should be fine now."

It grew quite again and stayed that way as the last few spells were cast and there were no more little comments inbetween them or any questioning sounds from the nurse. Hermione couldn't help but be impressed that all of them were cast without a sound from the woman. Must have been well versed in the spells so that they worked so well nonverbally.

"Done." Hermione glanced at her curiously wondering what conclusion she had come to. Hoping it was in her favor. "You're fine. Should have no problems with getting pregnate." Her heart sank and she could feel the blood draining from her face, making her appear pale. Mrs. Vandis wasn't looking her way though as she had turned away once again to go and open some container on the counter. When she turned back around Hermione had to force a smile on her face. "Here's a cookie." The way the words left her mouth, it was as if the woman believed that such a simple bakery good could get rid of all the problems in the world.

Well, she wouldn't mind borrowing that philosophy for a little while. Until her life completely went to hell that was. Hermione pushed herself up to a sitting position, straightening her shirt out before taking the cookie. "Thank you."

Mrs. Vandis smiled back. "Welcome. See you again in two months." With a nod at her Hermione began to slip from the table, intent on getting out of the building and maybe going into hiding. "Oh. I'll escort you to the waiting room."

For a moment she felt the urge to turn her down but then nodded. Being escorted by a fellow muggleborn was better than an arrogant pureblood. Going back down the hall she made a mental note of which hall led to different areas out of habit. She found herself also wondering where the Death Eaters were located. "The waiting room is right through that door. See you later Miss Granger."

Hermione gave an absent nod, watching the nurse walk back down the hall for a moment before turning around to open the door to the waiting room which would consequently lead outside. She stopped in her tracks though after entering the room staring at another woman sitting in a chair across from her. Hair starting out as dark brown that became wisps of white strands framing her face. Dark blue eyes looking back at Hermione as if studying her. Narcissa Malfoy pushed herself up from the leather furniture. "Hermione," she greeted. "I'll be taking you to the mansion to help you get prepared for the wedding."

Her minds spun at the words, the implication that everything had been throughly thought out so that she couldn't run away. She wondered half-heartedly if she could apparate within the hospital walls. It was a few more seconds before she found control of her voice again. "Narcissa," she replied after the Malfoy had said her own first name though after that she couldn't find anything to say for awhile. What was one suppose to say in this kind of situation? 'Thanks for escorting me to hell?' Taking in a slow breath trying to stop the wave of panic from rising in her she asked, "Who else is here?" There had to be others. No way could Narcissa have come by herself.

The woman smiled at this. "A few people."

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment. So she had been correct in her assumption. They were clearly not going to let her out of their sight until she was in a secure location. Not a public place. The mansion. The Malfoy's Mansion. She would be in one of their homes. "If I were to get away?" she asked.

"That won't happen."

"Right." she muttered, opening her eyes slowly to look over at the Malfoy. Taking in a breath Hermione walked forward until Narcissa grabbed her wrist and pulled her out the door. The moment they were off the Hospital premises there was a soft crack as Narcissa apparated them away.

Another crack echoed in her ears and for a moment Hermione's head swam from the after feeling of apparating. There was a tugging at her arm, leading her over somewhere before pushing her down to sit on a piece of furniture in the room. She tried to look around the room but a pair of finger wrapped around her chin and forced her gaze forward and Hermione found herself looking into Narcissa's eyes. "Not white." the woman murmured. "Darker maybe." She blinked as the Malfoy let go and walked away towards another section of the room and she could hear drawers opening again. What had that been about?

With her out of the way though she could know see that she was in a bedroom. One with dust layers of dust still on some of the furniture or a white cloth thrown over it. The only pieces that were free of dust was a black wood vanity pressed up on the far wall, twin silver snakes wrapping up each individual side of the mirror. The chair tucked in it; also black wood, a snake along the back of the chair, a white cushion. Turning her head she noticed a small set of drawers next to it was also clear of dust and when she looked towards Narcissa she could see her going through a large drawer that was also dust free. Pushing her palm against the couch she sat on she could feel the leather and could guess that the color was also black. That this room was a guest room and judging from the way there were still white cloths over the bed that this was just a temporary set up for her.

She found herself wondering as she sat there listening silently to the sounds of clothes being rustled around. Finally she voiced what had been nagging at the back of her mind ever since it all clicked together back at the Ministry. "Why?'

The rustling stopped momentarily. "Why as in, why you? Why this place? Or why now?"

"All of them."

There was a heavy sigh and then a simple, "I don't know." as her answer.

Hermione turned her gaze to look at the Malfoy, wondering how that was possible. "But you're a Death Eater."

The woman's lips pulled taut as her expression became even more neutral then before. "Lucius is the one who took the mark. The Dark Lord uses our place frequently for meetings, to plan things out, as I would imagine you would already know from the Order's own sources. I never took the mark. So I'm not a Death Eater." The rustling stopped. "Here it is." Turning around Hermione's eyes wend wide at the white dress Narcissa held in her hands.

Upon closer inspection as it was brought into the light she saw the fabric was actually both silver and ivory. A combination of lace with an english netting. It was hanging from Narcissa's fingers by the contour straps. The neckline dipping down to form a low V. The actual shape of the dress was skinny until it came towards the bottom down past the hip to spead out more. It was turned around and she could see the almost heart-shaped opening in the back, how the part of the dress around the upper half of it was partially see through. Being turned back she took notice of the floral design implemented into the material.

"Put it on."

"What?' Hermione tore her gaze from the dress to look at Narcissa. "What for?"

"Your wedding. I had the house elves go and get it yesterday." The woman paused as she looked at her. "It'll fit. Measurements were taken while you were... out." As in knocked out. Stupified into unconsciousness. "I've been asked to help you get ready for it." There was a long pause where they just stared at eachother for a moment. "I insisted that you wear one." Her voice had lowered but Hermione still heard her.

She hadn't expected that to come out of her mouth. She had expected for the dress to be throw at her, to be told to just throw it on before being marched to wherever the marriage was to take place. That it was all just to degrade her further. "Why?"

"Surely you know the Ministry will not be going back on their law anytime soon. This will be your only marriage-"

"To Barty." Hermione muttered, still not wanting to believe it even as everything was happening so quickly around her, at lightspeed.

Narcissa continued as if she hadn't said a thing, "-for as long as the law stays. Which no one knows when it will end. You should be able to dress up for today like any other woman-"

"Why I would I want to dress up for Barty!" Hermione exploded, jumping straight to her feet to glare at Narcissa. "I don't want to marry him! I'm seventeen! I shouldn't be getting married right now! I should be able to make the decision of who I'm married to, but instead the Ministry comes across this ritual to choose who you're with! One that was tampered with quite obviously! I don't know what you-the Death Eaters are trying to get out of this but I am not going to play these games! I-" Hermione struggled to take a breath, feeling all her frustration just bubbling over after having the time to brew for hours beforehand. "I should be able to enjoy my wedding day! But instead I'm being forced to marry Barty of all people! Who, by the way, scarred my neck just hours ago with dark magic! This-this-" She gasped as she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks, finding herself unable to speak, to shout, as her body shook with sobs.

There was a soft sigh and she felt a hand on her shoulder, moving her slowly across the room to be sat down in the plush chair. "I know this must be hard for you-"

"What would you know?" Hermione snapped inbetween her little hiccups.

"I didn't get to choose my marriage either you know. It was arranged by my parents. Not quite the same as your situation but I can understand how you must be feeling, I felt it before too." Hermione snorted in disbelief. "Just take a moment to calm down and put the dress on and we'll get started with your hair then." With that Narcissa turned and started going through the small drawers nearby.

She forced down another sob, taking a moment to clear her head, rein her emotions back in. This is what they want, she told herself. They want you to react this way, so don't. Nodding her head determindly she got up from the vanity chair and walked over to the dress, beginning to take her robes off.

"Wait."

Hermione turned and felt heat rise to her cheeks once again. In outstretched hands was a matching pair of rather raunchy black lace bra and knickers. Hesitantly she took them from the Malfoy who turned back around to go back to the small drawers. Once the embaressment had died down she realized she was to put these on and remembered the part of the law that said to consumate the marriage on the wedding day. Her blush deepened further from both embaressment and anger this time. Perhaps she should have made a marriage of convience to someone else, just so that she wouldn't have to be with a Death Eater. "If I were to make a run for it right now... what would you say my chances are?"

"Zero percent." Narcissa looked up and over her shoulder at the Gryfindor girl, a slight frown was etched across her face. "I wish I could say it's not that bad but... your situation is largely different then mine was. I wasn't getting married to an enemy." Hermione couldn't help but release a short laugh at that. That was true. She was in a bad situation and even being the brightest witch of her age she couldn't find a single way to get out of it. Unfurtunetly. She felt trapped here, which she very much was.

Once Narcissa had looked away again she quickly undressed fully before pulling the undergarments on first, then turning to the dress that she couldn't deny was beautiful. She pulled at the zipper with her fingers before stepping in and gathering it up to put her arms through the straps. Turning her hand back she reached for the zipper to pull it back up which thankfully wasn't too high. With it fully on now she could feel how it seemed to wrap perfectly around her body. Glancing down her eyebrows shot up. She had known from before that the neckline dipped down but she hadn't expected it go so far down. It stopped midway between her breasts revealing cleavage she honestly didn't even know she had.

"If you could come over here once your down looking at yourself."

She jumped slightly and glanced up with a flush across her face. Taking in a breath to try and compose herself she walked over to sit herself back in the plush chair. "This should work." Her hair was pulled to the side but instead of feeling it being magcially brushed she felt something wrap around her neck. Hermione's eyes raised to the mirror to see that a ivory lace choker with similar floral designs to the dress that was atleast three inches in width was being fitted along her neck. Before completely covering it though she noticed a scar along the right side, clean cut, in the shape of a C. A shiver passed through her just before it was covered. She knew what it stood for. Crouch. "There. That covers it and matches with the dress."

Looking back towards the mirror she felt a slight relief go through her that the scar was no longer visible. It made her feel like a piece of property rather than a witch. "Thank you." she murmured.

Narcissa just gave a small nod in response before giving a flick of her wand. Hermione's hair untangled immediately and soon the curls were more smooth, flowing gently down instead of in the normal haphazard manner. No individual hair was sticking out at odd angles any longer. "There's gloss in the drawer to your right."

Hermione reached to open the drawer, flipping through the various colors for a moment until her fingers settled on a light red that was on the verge of being pink. "Where is the," she took in a breath. "ceremony going to be held?"

"In another room here. It's not much bigger than this one. Only a few people will be there, you're not being paraded around or anything. This... is actually a bit hush hush within the Death Eaters. Me and Lucius only know because it's held in our Manor, and keeping it on the down low will gain us more favor with the Dark Lord."

"Hush hush within the Death Eaters?" Hermione questioned wondering what that meant for her.

"The more trusted are called the Inner Circle. Within that there are only a few of us that know of this at the moment. We're not unaware of the possibility of spies Hermione, and there's no reason for it to get out that you're marrying a Dea-former Death Eater until the marriage has actually taken place." Hermione hung her head at that. It made sense.

Taking the top off the gloss she twirled it up slightly before applying it to her lips. She made a small 'pop' sound when she was done having pressed her lips together then putting the cap back on. "You don't know why though."

"No." A pause. "Stand up." Pushing herself from the seat Hermione stood up. "It'll be a short walk but I won't have you sniffling on your way. Hold you head up high, don't slouch, keep your back straight. Smile, they'll stare, but ignore them. Don't show that you're unhappy, be strong."

Hermione blinked as she did as told before walking forward a few steps to give Narcissa a demonstration. Stopping she turned to look at her. "Why are you telling me this?" She didn't understand why the Malfoy would be giving her advice right now.

For a moment she thought she saw Narcissa's composure fall but then there was that steel expression again. "I never had a daughter. Right now, it feels like I do. Are you ready?"

Hermione bit her lip before forcing a smile and nodded. "I'm ready."


	4. Chapter 4

**Lunar Embrace - Fourth Chapter**

**This will be the first chapter to be Censored! *pretends to clap* Which is why it seems shorter than the others. Now if you're fine with sexual content you may go to my profile to click the AO3 (archive of our own) link, click "Works", and then the story with the same title. Either way, enjoy the chapter!**

Setting her bag below the long table that contained other Gryfindors Ginny slipped onto the bench. "Hey guys." Looking up from the table she frowned at the sight of Ron and Harry with worry etched onto their faces. "What?"

"Ginny," Harry started, "have you seen Hermione since last night?"

She had started to grab for one of the lunch sandwiches but her fingers stopped mid-grab. "Hermione? I haven't seen her since she stormed out of her dorm with that letter from the Ministry and had to go to my own dorm to get sleep." At the shared glance between Harry and Ron she quickly went to add, "I did try to check on her in the morning but I woke up late. Once I got down to breakfast I just figured she had finished early and gone off to the library to get in extra studying before classes like usual. Did something happen?"

"We're not sure." Harry said. "It's just we saw her last night when she came down into the commons and tried to leave through the door. Professor McGonagall was there at the time and Hermione mentioned needing to go the Ministry and was holding one of those letters saying it was a mistake and that she needed to speak with someone at the Ministry."

"I tried to ask her who she got but she totally blew me off." Ron added. "She was in a bloody rage."

"Have either of you spoken with McGonagall yet?" Ginny asked with a raised brow, wondering what could possibly be going through their heads that they hadn't thought to speak with Professor yet.

"No." Ron said slowly. "We-haven't had class with her yet." It was clearly a lie. They hadn't even thought to go to her about Hermione's whereabouts. This is exactly why they needed her around.

"Well then hurry up with the food and I'll go with you to her office and we'll get this all figured out." Ginny said before diving into her food with renewed vigor.

It didn't take very long for the group to finish as they were all starting to worry even more with every other second that passed. After grabbing their bags from under the table they hurried from the Great Hall, running down the castle passages to the Transfiguration classroom. They burst in with the knowledge that no classes were going on right now.

Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk, startled as Harry called ahead of them just before they reached the desk, "Professor McGonagall!" They all stopped together in front of the desk but Harry was the first to continue speaking, "Have you seen Hermione? She used the floo in your room last night didn't she?"

That was news to Ginny, but it would be the fastest way to get to the Ministry. "No. She's still at the Ministry currently."

"Eh?" All of them looked rather surprised at this.

"She's still there?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"Yes." McGonagall said while setting her writing quil aside. "I got a message from Dumbledore earlier this morning saying how she was still there working out whatever mistake they made and so that she wouldn't be in class today. The Ministry estimated that the problem would be worked out by tomorrow. Now, if that's all I need to get back to these assignments."

"That's all Professor." They exited the room Ron being the first to comment further,

"She's probably yelling at them. Correcting them on their own law." His comment sent a few laughs through them until he asked, "Who did she get paired with anyone that made her go off to storm the Ministry singlehandedly?"

Ginny frowned at this question. "I don't actually know. I tried to look but she took the letter away before I could see. She just said, 'You don't want to know who,' and took off."

"Seems rather dramatic for Hermione." Ron muttered.

Ginny sighed as she looked over to her brother. "They are telling her who she has to spend the rest of her life with basically. If you don't get a match you like on your birthday you're going to be a light more dramatic but just not get anywhere."

Ron scowled at that and the group laughed as they walked down the hall.

**/ / /**

A hand was laid on her shoulder and then the familiar feel of apparation came over Hermione. Blinking she found herself in a small room accompanied by Narcissa who quickly went to stand over by Lucius-who was currently looking at the door-near the left wall. With a quick glance she noticed Cuthota sitting in a chair that was pressed to the right wall, a witch she didn't know-who was beaming like a fool-that she figured must work for the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths and was here to chain her to Barty was standing practically standing right across from her. The moment her gaze settled on Barty though she felt her smile slip from her face, the little facade crumbling within a milisecond.

He was smiling at her. Not a sincere smile but a sick and twisted one that showed nothing but triumph. Barty looked the same as when she last saw him, the robes a slightly darker color but they certainly weren't formal. He wasn't trying to make the illusion that this was an traditional marriage, much less consenting. If nothing it seemed he was mocking her even as she felt his gaze travel up and down her body stopping only when his eyes reached her face again.

She had to bite down on her tongue to stop herself from shouting obscenties at him. Not because he was leering at her-which he very much wasn't. But because he had a scowl set into his face, as if she disgusted him. She narrowed her own eyes at him before glancing to the Official from the Ministry standing next to him who didn't seem to notice the growing tension in the room, or simply didn't care.

Taking a breath she forced her feet forward very much aware that the people around her were to be the 'witnesses' of the marriage even as they kept her there. To keep her from running away. There was no doubt in her mind that all of them had a stupefy on the verge of their lips. The idea that the Ministry Official could also be a Death Eater was fresh in her mind. After all that had happened she honestly expected it.

She curled her hands into the side of her dress as she approached, just to stop them from shaking. In fear or anger, she was unsure. Perhaps both. Probably both. She stopped to stand across from Barty, on the other side of the Official. Slowly she unwrapped her fingers from the dress to move infront of her, clasping them together and hoping he hadn't seen the way they shook.

The Ministry Official began ceremoniously, "We are gathered here today," Gathered? Hermione thought, if this was a gathering she was a... bloody hell she was already in a unbelievable situation. "to join this man," Murderer. He's not a man, he's a murderer in a man's body. "and this woman," I'm bloody seventeen! She wanted to shout. Still a teenager. A young lady if anything, but not a woman. "in matrimony."

The Official turned to Barty, "Bartemius Crouch, do you take this woman to be your wife," You mean his prisoner. "to live together in matrimony," Hell. With firey flames and souls screaming in torment. "to love her," She had to hold back a sound of disbelief. As if he ever could. As if he had ever loved in his lifetime. "to honor her," How was he suppose to do that, precisely? "to comfort her," A laugh was bubbling up in her chest. She was unsure if it was because of the insanity of this situation or if she was about to go into an anxiety attack. Hermione was barely able to hold it back. "and to keep her in sickness and in health," She was certainly sick now. Sick to her stomach about what she knew would be coming after this. Dreading it. "forsaking all others," As if. The Death Eaters dirty work was his priority. Always would be. "for as long as you both shall live?" For as long as she was useful was more like it. Whatever use she had, she was still unsure about that herself.

"I do." Barty said, his voice was calm even as his gaze on Hermione made her skin prickle in discomfort. It was practically murderous in itself.

The Ministry Official then turned towards her, "Hermione Granger, do you take this man to be your husband," No I bloody do not. "to live together in matrimony," Oh, just shut up. "to love him," That laugh was in her throat now and she pressed her teeth together to keep it down. "to honor him," This person really was trying to make her make a fool of herself. "to comfort him," Never going to happen. "and to keep him in sickness and in health," Does that mean I can poison him into sickness and just keep him like that? "forsaking all others," Never. She was sure that single word was going to turn into a mantra of hers soon enough. "for as long as you both shall live?"

She ground her teeth together for a moment, feeling a wand being raised out of sight to point at her. Certain atleast one was drawn on her. Waiting for the words. Taking in a breath she breathed out, "I do." She hated the fact that the words had past her lips, but in reality, she wasn't in control of this part of her life. Even if she wanted to be. That couldn't happen while the law was still in place.

Looking back to Barty again the Official simply stated, "Repeat after me,"

Barty didn't seem to even skip a beat as he started speaking, slow and deliberate while looking directly into Hermione's eyes. She personally felt as if his next words were a threat rather than a promise, "I, Bartemius Crouch, take you Hermione Granger, to be my wife, to have and to hold to this day forward," A shiver ran down her spine thick with fear. "for better, for worse," Her hands were shaking again and she dug her nails into the skin. "for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish," She blinked to hold back the tears trying to escape her eyes. "till death do us part." The ring of finality in that last statement was almost enough for her to double over in pain.

_Back straight_, she reminded herself and stood tall. Barely waiting for the woman between them to ask Hermione to repeat after her she began, "I, Hermione Granger, take you Bartemius Crouch, to be my husband, to have and to hold to this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part."

She could see that the Ministry Official was smiling from the corner of her eye, "By virtue of the authority vested in me under the laws of the Britain Ministry of Magic, I now pronounce you husband and wife." A small pause until the inevitable came. "You may kiss the bride."

Her heart practically leapt in her throat, she could feel it beating faster as a hand moved forward, fingers wrapping around her wrist to pull her toward him. She wanted to shrink back away from him, then there was the other hand on her back keeping her from doing so, traveling right up her spine to stop at the neck. Instinctively she tipped her head back as he leaned down to brush his lips against hers. Even though it was brief she could still feel that light preassure, the feel of his own lips lingering against hers. If she were to swipe her tongue across she would probably taste him. Hermione kept her mouth closed even as the feeling of apparation came over her.

The first thing she became aware of was that it was dark. She could barely make out anything, it looked like a bunch of shadows, one moving directly infront of her. Barty. His hands were no longer on her and she could tell he was moving away because the warmth that had been resonating from where he stood moments ago was fading. The cold in the room was creeping across her skin and she stepped forward, hearing the wood beneath her feet make a rather distinct creak. She froze for a moment, not entirely sure why, but as if she had expected something to happen.

Glancing around she could only see various shades of black around her. The darker and bulkier she figured were any furnishings. The smaller and slightly lighter shade on top of them being whatever lay ontop of them. When she took in a breath though the air didn't taste of dust like she expected it to. It didn't seem abandoned, just that all the lights were out. She finally found her voice, "Where are we?"

There was a soft click of a switch from across the room, a single wall light flooded the room with light, every other second. It was flickering, the bulb inside obviously close to burning out. A chill ran down her spine though as she caught images of what was around her in time with the light flashes.

She had been right about the bigger furnishings. There was a long wooden table pressed up against one wall, the same color it had been in shadow. Hermione released a small gasp at what she saw on top of it. Skulls, white and gleaming in the light, clearly having been polished were lined up along the back of the table parallel with the wall. Most of them looked like those of small magical creatures, others... she was unsure what they were from. Infront of those were simply potion ingredients in jars, folded cloths, whatever suited that particular ingredient better so that it was kept fresh.

The light flashed again and she jumped when she saw a dark shadow appear at the corner of her eye that hadn't been there before. She was rewarded with a chuckle. "What are you so afraid of Hermione Crouch?' Her blood froze over at the last name used for her. His last name. Signifying that it was true. That she was now married to him, legally even. A fucking lunatic with skulls in his bedroom. Well, she couldn't say he was boring.

Swallowing down nothing but dry air as she glanced to him, quickly realizing that it had just been his dark robe that she had seen so suddenly that had startled her. Not bothering to answer his question she repeated her own, with a slight twist. "Where am I?"

His smile curled up more, into a smirk. "My room, at our house. I suppose you didn't bother to ask for the full details of the law back at the Ministry, Hermione or you would have known wouldn't you? Being the brightest witch of your generation, I would have thought you knew." She stared at him, bewildered. What? It hadn't said anything about having to live together with the person, it... No. It did. Not quite so clearly but under the requirements on number three it mentioned spending time together. Such a thing could easily be accomplished if they were just in the same vicinity, the same house. That and it was expected for a newly wed couple-consenting or not-to move in together. Realization crept across her face. "Have you figured it out then?"

She couldn't stop the bile from rising in her throat from this turn of events. "It's only for seventy two hours." Three days a week. She... she could deal with it.

"Actually, it's fourty eight, because of your schooling." Two days! Even better! Wait...

"What else does it say in the fine print?"

Barty waved his hand towards the door as he spoke, though it was short and clearly not a message for her to leave. "There's a copy on the kitchen table if you really want to look at it later. You're busy right now, remember?" She opened her mouth to snap that she wasn't but instead drew in a breath sharply. Her head was shaking back and forth before she could even stop the action. This couldn't be happening to her- "I have to say, Narcissa meant it when she said she was going to dress you up. At the time it was more of a threat of course. Rather surprised she went through with it..." He took some steps toward her while he spoke and she just stared at him, heart beating loudly in her ears. His hand raised, first touching at her waist before going up, his fingers barely even touching the fabric, but she could still feel it since the dress was skin tight along her upper body. "Not a bad selection." There was a brief pause as his hand curled over her shoulder, brushing her hair from it. "This is for?" he inquired while looking at the lace choker around her neck, a single finger reaching out to brush against it.

Hermione shivered at his touch, a sort of shock rolling through her body at the contact, and not the pleasant kind. "It-Narcissa gave it to me. To go... with the... dress." she couldn't stop her voice from wavering when his finger moved up along her neck, dipping under her chin to go to the other side.

His brow raised slightly at her. "Really?" His finger tucked under the choker and for a moment he was silent looking at the lace on her neck as if studying it. In the next moment there was a swift tearing sound and she could feel the lace flutter away down from her neck to land on the floor somewhere. "Looks as if it was hiding this." Feeling him trace the C on her neck she had no doubt in her mind what 'this' was.

"I don't like it." Hermione said quickly, not wanting to get Narcissa in trouble for making her semi-more comfortable, for a little while anyway.

"I take it you still don't like me either?"

Hermione bit her lip, not seeing the point in answering the question. Surely he could see the answer in her eyes. Instead she asked her own, "Where's my wand?"

He smirked down at her. "You don't need it right now." His finger was continuously stroking the letter on her neck, each time it just reminded her of how powerless she had been before within the Ministry itself. When Barty leaned forward she stilled even further fully expecting his lips to fall on hers. Instead he leaned in past her face, moving her hair aside once again. She jumped slightly when she felt his lips on her neck, on the scar he had made, mimicking the shape with his tongue.

**/ / / Cens**

**ored / / /**

After a second of just laying there she tugged at the chains binding her wrists to the head of the bed, trying to get him to undo them. Barty made no such movements towards her. He had simply retrieved his trousers and robe from the ground and then put them back on before turning to look at her. She tugged at them again now that his gaze was on her.

"I don't think so."

His words cut deep into her, not as much as he had previously, personally. Her throat was raw from her screaming but she parted her lips to force a sound out. Pausing for a moment, wetting her lips, she tried again. "Please undo them."

Her words were met with laughter. "Please? You think that word will get you anywhere here? That it holds any weight? At all?" He walked over to stand at the side of the bed. "I'm going to make this very clear to you Hermione, you're here because of the Ministry. Because of the new law and the means as to which they decided to set people up together. If you try and file a complaint of abuse it'll never reach a non-Death Eater within in the Ministry. You are stuck with me. You're mine to do with as I please every weekend. Got that?"

For a moment she was silent, but she wouldn't let his threats get to her. Hermione raised her head at an angle, meeting his gaze. "This is all a fraud. A mistake. You and I know it. You and your fellow Death Eaters messed with the ritual and once the Ministry realizes it's error I'll be out of this so-called marriage." It hurt to speak but she managed it.

Barty's eyes narrowed and he leaned down toward her, his face hovering over hers, forcing her to settle back into the comforter. "Is that what you think?" His voice was suddenly much lower than before, clearly made to be threatening. "Should I let you in on a little secret?" Barely a second passed before he went on, not waiting for her to answer. "I didn't do anything to the ritual. Neither did any of the Death Eaters. You were to be mine since the day you were born."

Hermione took in a sharp breath. "What?"

His expression quickly changed from dead serious to seriously amused. "Do you always believe everything you hear?" He was chuckling now as he gazed down at her.

She felt anger flood through her. "You... how could you even... why would you say something like that?" She tugged on her chains again, wishing she could move her arms, hit him after saying such things.

"Your expression, it's rather funny from where I stand." he sneered down at her.

Hermione glared at him. "You lied. Just to amuse yourself?"

"Perhaps." She continued to glare at him, not about to fall for it again. "Maybe I'm lying, maybe I'm not. That's for you to decide, isn't it?" He turned from her then, starting for the door.

"Where are you going? Undo this!" Hermione snapped after him while tugging at her wrists once again, the chains rattling loudly in her ears.

"I have work to attend to. You on the other hand, do not." He smiled at her then, the only word she could think of to describe it was deceptive. "Get some sleep, _honey_." With that he closed the door behind him as he left the room.

For a moment Hermione was stunned into silence from his last word. Honey? She didn't think she would ever be able to associate that word with something sweet again for as long as she lived. Then the realization that he had just left her here, chained to his bed, hit her hard. It sent her heart racing, frantically beating away at her chest feeling rather trapped. When was he going to be back to undo them? How long would he be gone for? How long would she have to stay like this? Where the bloody hell had he stuck her wand? When-what-

"Bartemius Nyle Crouch Junior! You get in here right now and take these chains off me!" she shouted as her rage overcame her. She couldn't believe him. No, she could. This man was fucking _insane_. The fact that he would do something like this shouldn't surprise her. The fact that he had left the bottom of her dress bunched up around her waist shouldn't either. Now that she thought about it, it was rather cold in this room, and he hadn't responded to her at all.

Hermione huffed as she sank back into the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Had he already left? Before or after she yelled? She considered it for a moment. "Hey! Mental patient!" Waiting for a few seconds and not hearing anything in response she ruled out him being here any longer.

With a whimper she squirmed up the bed, each movement making the chains dig into her wrists, another whimper crawling up her throat. By the time she had succesfully pulled the blanket loose with her feet and managed to get semi-underneath it she felt as if she had sawed her hands off. Of course the dull pain reminded her that they were still there.

She turned her head to the side while lying on her back as she couldn't lay anyother way due to where both her hands were. Tears were soon running hot down her face again as she just thought over the past events. Eventually she drifted into an uneasy sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Lunar Embrace - Fifth Chapter**

**I have just discovered something. I have absolutely no control over the lengths of these chapters. Therefore they will be whatever length they want to be.**

Even in the depths of sleep she heard a sudden and sharp crack. Glass shattering to fall onto the wooden floor boards.

With a gasp she sat up, fear already pounding anew through her veins at the sound. It took her a few seconds later to realize that the door had slammed after it. Her brow crinkled and she opened her mouth to call out but then stopped herself. If Barty was breaking things it definitely wouldn't be best to be around him. Besides that, she would rather he left her alone. She wished she would never have to see him again but knew that was very unlikely to happen.

Her dress was still bunched up around her waist, the blanket though had served to cover her below that. She didn't feel any more pain, which she was thankful for. Reaching up to pull strands of hair out of her face she froze for a moment. Glancing down she could see faintly see a darker tint to her skin where the chains had been around her wrists.

They weren't there anymore. He had just left the room... in a rage if the broken bulb scattered in pieces on the floor was any judge. But, he had removed the chains. Relief flowed through her at this. Her lips tugging upward into a small smile. Not only because her wrists weren't in constant pain anymore-though she found when she moved them that a dull ache started where the clasp had rested. It was because it meant she wasn't completely defenseless like before. Without being chained down any longer she could try to get out of here.

Hermione bit at her lip. Where was she to go though? No. That wasn't her top priority yet. She had to find her wand. Figure out where he would put it. Considering he had left her in here for however long she was able to eliminate the possibility of it being in this room, his room.

Leaning over she pulled the covers off her before tugging her dress down to gather at her feet again. Sitting up she had to rest for a moment as her stomach did somersaults on her before growling rather loudly. She clentched her teeth as she felt a fresh wave of exhaustion hit her.

It seemed a bit much. Even if she hadn't eaten much for today besides a cookie. Which reminded her, bakery goods did not fix problems. Well, except hunger. Though she would need more than a couple cookies to stop her stomach from cramping up on her.

Why the hell was she thinking about food at a time like this? She needed to get out, she needed to-

_Crash._

Her head whipped around to stare at the door that was now wide open with Barty filling in the doorway as he glared at her. There was a strange glint in his eyes that sent her heart sky rocketing to catch into her throat, making it hard to speak.

"If you're quite done doing whatever it is you think you're doing in here. Or thinking about for that matter. Get _out_ of my room. Now." At his words she practically jumped off the bed, pressing her palms down on the mattress as an extra boost. She regretted that course of action instantly as she flinched and hissed at the same time. A shot of pain had just gone through each of her wrists. She raised her arms up rubbing lightly at her left wrist to try and dull the pain but it just sent more smaller shocks under her skin. "Hurry it up, Hermione. I don't have all day." A shiver went down her spine. From his tone of voice she must be getting on his last nerve.

With a quick nod of her head she started for the door until her gaze landed on the floor and the shredded lace choker. Dropping to her knees she picked up the two tatters and started to get up once again to hurry out of the room. A hand seemed to reach out from nowhere but she knew it could only be the one other person in the room, the house. His fingers wrapped around her wrist and she whimpered rather loudly from her skin there being so raw and more sensitive now because of those damn chains he had had on her previously. If ever she got the chance to curse him for that-

She was tugged forward then, felt the hand let go of her wrist. Her eyes widened a moment later as she registered that the floor was speeding up at her. She hit it. Hard.

Hermione groaned in pain from the hallway carpet, turning her head slightly she could see Barty standing in the doorway again, sneering down at her. "Stay out and go to school like a good little girl." His gaze landed on the remains of the choker in her hand and he raised his wand. She dropped it immedietly suddenly knowing what he was about to do. Fire shot from the tip of his wand, quickly turning the choker into a small pile of ash.

The door slammed shut a moment later.

For a few seconds she found herself just staring at the door. What the bloody hell could she have possibly done to make him so mad at her? Did he like seeing the scar he made on her that much? Or was it something else? If he way anyone else she might try asking. But she doubted he would tell her if she did.

The last time she had seen him he mentioned having to 'work'. She could only guess that whatever it was had gone badly or not as exactly planned for him to be in such a foul mood. But then again, it could have just been her. It's not like she suddenly knew him or anything, and when she thought more about it, it probably just had to do with his personality. Which just meant she was stuck with a person that was going to be rude to her all the time and throw her around like a damned rag doll.

She tried to huff with indignation but ended up whimpering instead. Her wrists hurts terribly. She wondered for a moment if they were broken but as she finally looked down at them and saw them in actual light she gasped. The skin was red were the chains had been against them, looking as if it had been rubbed raw. There was dried blood smudged along her wrists and she was sure it had dried on the metal as well.

Biting at her lip to surpress the cry building in her chest she slowly moved her legs beneath her to push up with them so she could stand. Not particularly wanting to use her hands for anything right now. With a glance at the door to Barty's room-simply to know which one to avoid-she started down the hall.

Finding a door to her left she gingerly tried to open it to find it locked. Letting go and flexing her hand to try and get tird of the brief pain that had sparked from her wrist from twisting the knob she continued down the hall, turning right into a longer hall. The next two doors she came to were locked as well and she hissed softly in pain each time she went to open them.

She stopped hesitantly infront of the third door just before the hall seemed to open up into the main living space. The other doors had been dark wood colored, but this one was cherry oak, a white trim on the edges. If anything it seemed more feminine, inviting even. Taking in a breath she readied herself to see more skulls as she reached for the door, turning the knob successfully this time. Letting out a sigh of relief at finding one that worked she pushed it open and stepped over the threshold.

Her eyes widened as she took in the room. A large canopy poster bed was set against the wall opposite of the door, directly in the middle. The wood of the bed was also cherry oak like the door, if she were to do a quick glance around the room it actually seemed to be a recurring theme. But she wasn't. Hermione was still staring at the bed with the white canopy, the top sheet with thread that looked as if it could have been made from gold, a fluffy white blanket that was poking out from beneath that, the ruby red pillows pressed to the headboard. It pretty much shouted, Gryfindor at her. Next to the bed was a small nightstand with just a candle wicker sitting on it. There was a small chandelier set between the door and bed, the candles on it had flickered to life the moment she stepped into the room.

Finally looking away from the bed she could see a dresser pressed to the right wall, a door was set into it as well further back along the wall. A small vanity was against the left wall along with a medium-sized bookshelf that currently sat empty. On top of the vanity was a silver box with a letter.

It only took her a moment to decide to go over and open it. She bit her lip and tried to ignore the pain in her wrists as she tore it open to then pull out a thin piece of parchment.

_Hermione Crouch,_

_I hope you're well when you find this. Barty said you were sleeping when I came by later in the evening. Not sure if I believe him or not. I think it would be best if you keep what I discussed with you to yourself. If you need someone to talk to about anything please contact me. I hope you don't mind but I've made some adjustments to your room to make you more comfortable here. Trust me when I say you wouldn't have liked the earlier design. Don't think Barty likes my version but it's your room so you should get more say in it._

_I've left you some wedding favors. It's not much but it should help with your problem. You'll find a pair of your school robes in the drawer. Considering that I wasn't able to see you I would suggest taking a shower before you return to Hogwarts, I've left a few things in the bathroom attached to your room. There's also a note from the Ministry in the drawer with the school robes. I found it in the kitchen and thought you should be able to find it more easily there. _

_Take care, Narcissa Malfoy_

For a moment she just stood there with the letter in her hands but then she smiled. Looking around though she found no quil or bottle of ink to write back. She would have to get some of these things herself it would seem. Leaving the box for now she set the letter down before moving over to the other door and opening it to peak inside.

With just a glance she knew that Narcissa had redesigned this as well. She really would have to thank her later for this. It did make the house more inviting for her, and would make it easier for her on the weekends. She supposed she could just hole up in here for most of it.

The sink was very simple, but the fountain was obviously painted with gold. There was a lion's head where the water came from, with it's maw currently closed. The hot and cold handles had been shaped into paws at the end. The tile was white, framed by thin red lines. It was rather small, the shower being a modern rectangle sort. Not that she minded. Hot water sounded good to her right now. Reaching back she slowly pulled the zipper down before pushing the straps off her shoulders and then stepping from the dress. She set it down ontop of a hamper in the corner. Taking off her undergarments next and wincing at the sight, small drops of dried blood along her inner thigh. It was less than she had expected, but the fact that she had expected to see blood unnerved her.

She stuck them in the hamper before getting into the shower. Being careful with her wrists as she washed up, making sure to get rid of the blood traces on both her thighs and wrists even though it stung the latter. She stepped out of the water soon enough, grabbing a red towel from the wall Hermione moved to her own room only to freeze a second later.

Barty was passing by her open door. Why the hell had she left it open? How could she forget to close it? His gaze simply flickered toward her and he scowled just before she managed to cover herself with the towel, then he was gone from the hall. Seconds later she could hear a blaze of flames signaling that he had left.

She let go of the breath she had been holding and started to dry herself off. The smile that had begun to take place had crumbled again. Just the way he had looked at her even in the nude with distaste made her scowl. The Ministry certainly hadn't lived up to any of it's standards. Attracted to eachother her ass. Besides that, she found it rather insulting. She may not be the prettiest girl-or woman as the Ministry would have it-but she certainly wasn't ugly.

There was also the fact that there wasn't a single attractive quality in the guy. He looked like a damn mad man and was one. Originally put in Azkaban for torturing the Longbottoms, she was sure he had killed as well.

Walking over to the dresser she pushed the thoughts aside. Upon opening it she quickly spotted the note left by the Ministry and picked it up, to read it over multiple times not sure if she was reading it right or not.

_Dear Hermione Jean Crouch,_

_It has come to our attention that because of your particular marriage it may cause you trouble. Specifically, in school. Most people are still under the impression that your husband was a Death Eater, and, in fact, think he still is one. Because of this we would like to offer you a way to avoid being a new headline in the Daily Prophet or anyother newspaper for that matter, and avoid making your life at school harder._

_What we are proposing is very simple. For your remainder of years at Hogwarts your records will still state that your last name is Granger, while all our own files, medical, and Gringotts bank will show you as Crouch._

_Please take your time in deciding whether to accept or decline our offer. We wish you the best in your new marriage. If any trouble comes up with the Prophet or otherwise simply contact us at once._

_Sincerely, Supervisor Cuthota of the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths_

She found herself smiling after having read it over five times. It sent a wave of relief through her that she could still go by Granger for two more years, atleast at school. She didn't like being called Crouch and she most definetly didn't care to be featured on the Daily Prophet or have any news reporter trying to poke into her private life. Quickly setting in ontop of the drawer she reached inside to grab her school robes and certaintly less fanciful underclothes.

Hermione changed quickly, already going over a response to the Ministry in her mind. Before she left the room in search of parchment and a quil she walked back to the vanity to open the silver box Narcissa had left for her.

Her smile only grew when she looked at the contents inside. There were more of those chokers within, both lace, leather, and the usual cloth. Reaching in she picked up one of the more modern looking ones, a simple red that turned darker on the sketches of vines on the fabric.

Facing the mirror she fit it along her neck and started closing each individual clasp. Turning the choker along her neck until she could see the front where the designs began. She touched the part that hid the mark happy she couldn't see it anymore. Immensely more happy that Barty wasn't currently here or else he might turn this one to ash as well.

Closing the box she tucked it under her arm before heading out the door wondering what time it was and how many classes she had missed today due to the marriage. The light behind her was snuffed out when she walked over the threshold. Neat.

Stepping from the hall she found herself in a living room-of sorts. The only light came from a big window with a bench below it on the far wall leaving light gray streaks across the wood floor boards. Gray? It had been around the afternoon changing to evening last time she checked. Was it really that late? When her eyes landed on a small old fashioned curved wood clock they widened. There was a small engraving of am at the bottom, that looked as if it could move. Which meant there was another engraved piece in the clock that said pm. Which would suggest... morning. The next day. Her gaze flickered over to the time, six o'clock. Breakfast still didn't start for a little over an hour then.

That should give her enough time to write out her responses and get them to the Owlery but there was also the issue of her wand. Barty hadn't told her where it was, simply that she didn't need it back in his bedroom. It had to be in the house somewhere...

She glanced over the room again, taking notice of a quil and a stack of parchment on a small desk pressed into a corner of the room. There was an old couch with pieces of the thread torn, a coffee table sitting just infront of it with glass stains on the surface, a fireplace with a metal frame, an antique looking fan was above all of this. Snakes curling from it's center only for four to decend partly with the mouths open, obviously where the light would come from it it were to be turned on. However one did that.

Her wand wasn't in sight though and she felt a flutter of panic run through her. She moved over to the table where the clock sat and started pulling open the drawers, looking in quickly only to have her hope dashed with every single one of the four. Opening the bottom cabinet she found books covered in dust, the titles along the edge so faded to the point she couldn't make out the words. No wand though. She shut it angrily cursing at herself when her wrists ached in response.

Getting up she turned to look around the room again. Where else could he have- She dashed for the desk, opening the single long drawer at the bottom. Biting at her lip a moment later when she found it only held letters from the Ministry within as well as a deed to the house. Shutting it she turned slowly. There had to be something she wasn't seeing, something she had missed.

A sudden idea went through her mind. She had seen one used for the purpose of hiding things before in a muggle television show. How could she forget? Hermione walked over to the bench set beneath the window that was tucked into an alcove and bent down to knock on the side of it.

It echoed back at her. Hollow.

Setting the silver box on the ground she crouched down, hooking her fingers around the edge of the cushion to push up. Luckily it was light and didn't strain her wrists too much. Once it was open she glanced in, blinking in shock to find her wand within on the bottom. There was also a small folded piece of parchment and a small black box beside that. Reaching in she grabbed the parchment first, it was folded three times. She flipped open the first fold to see a handwriting she wasn't familiar with.

_I figured you would find this sooner or later._

Barty. He had left this here then. Gritting her teeth as anger went through her at this stupid game in which he had obviously played with her she opened the next part.

_In the box you will find a pair of earrings you are to put on._

She paused before reaching out with her other hand to grab the small box and open it expecting something to jump out at her. Instead she found small silver earrings with a single small black onyx on each. Glancing back to the paper she flipped the last part open.

_Think of it like a timed portkey. At five o'clock in the morning of every Saturday it will take you here. It only goes the one direction. If you are ever late I will find you, Hermione._

The last part was clearly a threat. Though if she had them on at all times she doubted she could ever be late. So the simple way to not ever let that happen would be to keep them on.

With a sigh she ripped the note to shreds before getting her wand out and pushing the cushion back down. Setting both the wand and box ontop of it she grabbed the earrings from within to put them on before closing the small black box and putting it in a pocket. She just needed to deal with this until the law was revoked. Picking up her wand she murmured, "Episkey." while pointing it at each wrist in turn. Slipping it into the wand pocket she rubbed at her wrists with relief. It felt good to not have them hurting anymore, not to see the skin red now that it was back to it's orginal color and not scarred.

Hermione walked over to the desk, grabbing a piece of parchment to move to the center of the desk and picking up the quil she began writing each letter in turn.

_Narcissa Malfoy,_

_I'm sorry about having been asleep when you came around. I was rather tired after all that has happened in the past twenty four hours. So I can assure you that Barty wasn't lying about me sleeping. Though I did notice he was in a foul mood this morning, still not sure if that's his usual mood or not. If he ends up at your manor today in an even more terrible mood I'll have to apologize in advance as I'm pretty sure it's my fault._

_Thank you for the lovely decor of the room, and the necklaces._

_Later, Hermione Granger_

She grabbed another piece of parchment, pushing the one up the desk as she started to write the last one.

_To Supervisor Cuthota of the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths,_

_After taking the time to consider your offer I will accept._

_Sincerely, Hermione Crouch_

With that done she grabbed both the letters and walked over to the fireplace, briefly pausing until she located the pouch of floo powder. Taking some in an unoccupied hand she stepped into the rather large fireplace and turned to face the living room. Taking in a breath she shouted, "Gryfindor Commons!"

She closed her eyes this time as the flames rose up to surround her, only opening them when the feeling of spinning round and round stopped. Ducking down she walked from the fire place, shaking her shoes off before stepping onto the carpet. She went up the stairs to the girls dorms first to drop off the silver box and grab two envelopes to put each letter in along with her book bag before heading back down. Pulling open the door she could hear the soft snoring of the Fat Lady and was careful not to wake her up as she slipped from the room.

Walking to the Owlery Hermione could feel her mind wandering.

It kept coming back to her now that she wasn't thinking about anything else. His words. His joke. As cruel as it had been. The possibility was making her mind spin. It's not like she had a video recording of the occurence. _I didn't do anything to the ritual. Neither did any of the Death Eaters._ The Wizarding world didn't have muggle technology for security means, obviously they had their own. She had to wonder how good it was though. There were of course Death Eaters hidden in the Ministry. With powerful positions. It would be easy for them to go in and mess it up even with more security. But, then, maybe... not.

She shook her head, hard. It didn't matter how they got through. It was the simple fact that they had.

Quickening her pace up the steps to the top of the Owlery it hissed into her mind again. _You were to be mine since the day you were born._ A shiver passed down her spine just at the mere idea that it could be true. Fate was cruel if it was. To bind her to that murderous lunatic.

Don't think about it. He's just trying to get to you, she told herself. Playing little games with your mind. He said it was a joke. Cruel and evil. The typical Death Eater stereotype that they all played true too.

She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. Picturing a door that she closed and locked mentally. It would be best not to ever think about it again. In fact, the next time she sees Barty, in a foul or worse mood she might as well actually give him a reason to be mad at her. She would rather not try and figure out if it was something she did or something else entirely.

Drawing in a breath after having climbed all those steps she walked into the Owlery, glancing around to look for an owl that could send the message. It went through her mind that she should get her own owl.

Her gaze went first to the general school owl coops, finding them empty she slowly turned towards the students area. It was important she got both the letters out. Mainly the one concerning the Ministry, but also since she had to sign them with her actual last name. Something she would rather no one else see. Her eyes landed on a white and dark grey feathered owl. "Hedwig." she called to Harry's owl knowing he wouldn't mind if she borrowed him. Besides, Ron's owl was a bit... not very competent. What with getting lost and smashing into windows.

When the owl flew over to land on one of the perches nearby and hooted at her she smiled. "I need you to take this letter to the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Marriages, Births, and Deaths at Cuthota's office." She fixed it to the owl's left leg before showing Hedwig the other letter after the owl hooted once again. "This letter goes to Narcissa Malfoy. Be careful getting there." Once she fixed the letter to the right leg Hedwig jumped from her perch to fly out one of the openings.

Hermione watched until she couldn't see the speck of white in the sky anymore. Noticing that it was lighting up she turned for the door pausing to reach up and make sure the choker was firmly in place before making her way down the stairs. The last thing she needed was her scar showing. Even if it looked more reminiscent to a crescent rather than the beginning of her last name.

Once she hit the last step she jogged back to the castle to escape the cool crisp morning air. Inside the castle now she walked swiftly down the halls until she came near the open doors of the Great Hall. She practically slammed to a halt, already hearing chatter from inside the room. Taking a moment to make sure she was presentable and hadn't missed anything before she resumed her walking and went into the large room. Her mind flashed back to fourth year as she walked, her book bag hanging loosely from her shoulder.

_The dark sky. Thunder sounding, echoing against the smooth stone. Lightning flashing from outside. The sudden downpour to be put out from a flick of a wand at the front of the Great Hall._

She bit lightly at her lip to drive her mind from the past. To focus on the now. How to get out of this situation. She just had to put her mind to it. Swinging a leg over the bench she sat herself down next to her friends. "Good morning." she said before reaching forward for a glass of juice as her stomach growled at her, insistent on being fed first before she got into a meaningful conversation.

The people around her quickly responded with a "Hi Hermione," or "Morning."

"I told you she was coming back today." Ginny started saying while Hermione downed the glass in one gulp earning stares from her friends and a few of the other Gryfindors. Even Ginny stopped to just gaze at her for a moment.

"What?" she questioned, glancing at them. "I've been busy these last few nights and day. I'm hungry." Her stomach gave another little growl to confirm this fact. Picking up a piece of toast and spreading butter ontop of it she went back to listening to her friends since her own movements clearly said to leave her alone with any questions they had until she was done eating.

"Lavender said that when they all got up there was this silver box on Hermione's bed and that her book bag was missing. Plus her stack of envelopes went down a bit."

"But all the school owls are out because of this law and every seventh year is scrambling to get dates set for marriages and all that." Ron said, for once without food stuffed into his mouth. He glanced towards her after looking to Ginny and clearly ignored Hermione's pointed look as he asked, "How could you send a letter by owl in the current situation?"

She took her time in chewing just to annoy him before finally swallowing the scrambled egg down along with some of the toast. "I borrowed Hedwig." With that answered she took another bite of the mini egg sandwhich she had made.

"Did you ask Harry?"

Hermione just glanced towards Harry in response. "I don't mind." he said and she shot a grin at Ron surpressing the urge to stick her tongue out at him in triumpth.

"Well you certainly seem in a better mood then when everyone saw you last." Ginny remarked quite obviously thinking about when she stormed out of the girls dorm saying how she was going to the Ministry.

Everything about that trip had been unexpected. She nodded her head before picking up her refilled glass and taking a smaller amount than before. "I am." In spite of being thrown to the ground in the morning and yelled at for some inexplicable reason the rest of it had been rather nice, she added silently. The fact that her teachers wouldn't be calling her by that _thing_ was most certainly a perk.

"So it all worked out at the Ministry? You got the problem all sorted out?"

"Yup." She replied while working on making another egg sandwhich. "All sorted." That is in the aspect of her being married to a lunatic being done and over with.

"There really was an error in the match?" Ginny was staring at her with wide eyes.

Hermione took a moment to slather another piece of bread with butter before sticking it ontop of the eggs to complete her creation. An actual error in the match was apparently debatable but, "I've taken care of it." That was the gist anyway. Seeing her friend still looking at her with disbelief though she elaborated, in the false sense, "There was an error with the letter, not the match. They sent me the wrong one, just under my name."

"So how did you know it was an error then?" Ron asked.

She scowled at Ron realizing if they started asking indepth questions she would have to start making more things up. "By looking at the match, Ronald." To take the bite out of her words she added, "We never got along before and I already knew I wasn't attracted to him. So I just knew. A simple procedure of deduction considering the things this ritual is suppose to check for."

"Right." Ginny said before Ron could question Hermione once again. "It's suppose to check things like that. It said so in the Daily Prophet days ago. Things like compatible personalities, physical attraction, the whole shebang. Don't you read the Prophet Ron?"

"Not since it was trying to convince everyone that Harry and Dumbledore were part of a conspiracy last year."

Ginny looked as if she had nothing to say to that and Hermione felt her gaze land on her again. "That's a nice choker."

At the comment she almost froze. She had been trying to forget about it. Well, not specifically the choker, rather what it lay ontop of. Her fingers gave a little twitch and she had to surpress the urge to raise a hand and touch the right side of her neck where the scar was. "Thanks." she said somehow managing to keep her voice chipper while maintaining a smile.

"Where did you get it?"

She opened her mouth, on the verge of saying Narcissa but quickly corrected herself, "My mom. She sent a whole bunch of them in that silver box. Found them at a little store in England." The lie fell easily from her lips. It's not like they would believe her if she said Draco's mother had given them to her. Really it would just end up with more questions she rather not answer anyways. Which would then just lead to her having to tell them she was a Crouch now and she didn't want to remember that. She didn't want to think about her marriage, she especially didn't want to think of what happened last night. Even without the marks on her wrists, without the pain, she could still remember the feel of metal locked around them.

"That where the earrings came from to?'

"Yes." Hermione said swallowing down the remaining juice in the glass along with the bile that had begun to fill her throat. The fact that Barty had given them to her was most certainly not something anyone needed to know about, much less concern themselves with. Especially since they were given as another pair of chains. "So, how are your brothers taking this?" she asked to steer the conversation away from herself.

"They got their letters at night on the day they were sent out, like you did. Though neither of them went storming off to the Ministry." Ron said before Ginny could speak.

Giving her brother a quick glance Ginny turned back to Hermione. "We're actually going to my house after classes today where George and Fred are going to tell us who they got and hopefully what date they'll be getting married." There was a dreamful sigh from Ginny. "It'll be beautiful. I can't wait till we get to go to your marriage as well." She cringed inside. Right, that marriage that had lasted as long as it took to say the words before she was manacled to the bed and taken in a very painful way. Barty evidently did not know of the word gentle, or what it meant for that matter. Hermione stuffed a grape in her mouth just as Ginny asked, "Who did you say you got?"

For a moment she just blinked, a single word going through her mind. _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!_ She hadn't even thought to come up with an alibi. "Guess." she said quickly opting to make a small game out of the matter until she could come up with someone.

"Uh, Lee?"

A moment of thinking about it and Hermione shook her head as she dumped some grapes from the bowl onto her plate. "No."

"Towler?"

"Who?" Hermione didn't even recognize the name.

"I'll take that as a no. Pucey?"

She took a second to just stare at Ginny. "No. Next." waving her hand for her friend to continue guessing and start naming people she actually knew.

"One of my brothers?"

"Didn't they tell you who they were marrying?" Hermione asked before throwing a grape into her mouth and savoring the sweet taste. She wondered briefly for a moment what sort of food would be in the house she shared with Barty. If there was any at all. Burned bread, probably.

"They want it to be a surprise." Ron informed her just before Ginny fired off her next guess.

"Roger?"

"No."

"Okay, I give up. Just tell us already."

Her mind spun and she threw out the first name that came to mind, "Blaise."


End file.
